I just built an Intel NUC (nuc8i7hvk-16gb ram-512gb ssd) for this very purpose. This unit has 2 HDMI, 2 DP, and 2 TB3 ports driven by a Radeon RX Vega M for plenty of monitor output combinations. I converted the 2 DP outputs to SDI for our video systems so you can have PPT presentation and desktop both available to video world. Also using a StreamDeck/Companion surface with USB over IP for remote slide control. Everything but the VHS size power brick fit very nicely on a 6" deep 1U rack shelf. Very happy :-)

I just built an Intel NUC (nuc8i7hvk-16gb ram-512gb ssd) for this very purpose. This unit has 2 HDMI, 2 DP, and 2 TB3 ports driven by a Radeon RX Vega M for plenty of monitor output combinations. I converted the 2 DP outputs to SDI for our video systems so you can have PPT presentation and desktop both available to video world. Also using a StreamDeck/Companion surface with USB over IP for remote slide control. Everything but the VHS size power brick fit very nicely on a 6" deep 1U rack shelf. Very happy :-)

Thanks greg, good to know I always follow your racks and work on fb ... well thought out powerful systems ...

Do you run two computers I unison for ppt? Cue clickers make it very easy ... we typically do ... and yes make all outputs sdi put into router then to atem very similar to what I'd imagine you do.

I like the remote usb idea and had done something similar with a kvm over ip at one point but not necessary currently.

Besides testing I'd love to know if ppt benefits at all from multiple threads ... seems ram and GPU are most important ...

Unless something has changed, Powerpoint will only output separately to 2 displays - Main Presentation and Presenter View.

Also, if you change app focus (a la doing something else on the main desktop screen) during the presentation, Powerpoint will not keep scrolling or be triggered by a [typical] slide advancer.

Yes correct ... however we have been in some situations where having 3 displays is useful

1. Op screen - notes page in presenter view2. Pgm presenter view 3. Dsm this becomes a straight shot on smaller setups without a router ... you can switch between presenters if it's a duplicate of either 1 or 2 depending on presenter needs

Thanks greg, good to know I always follow your racks and work on fb ... well thought out powerful systems ...

Stop it...you're making me blush :-)

We have not to date ever run two computers for PPT. Knock on wood we've never had an issue. Then again we always get the PPT file ahead of time and run it thru to make sure it doesn't have issues. Biggest issue we see is creators not saving the file with embedded video content and having to get them add it. The PPT computer doesn't do ANYTHING else during the show (well the new NUC is also going to run a countdown timer on it's now 3rd output). Horsepower isn't everything I guess, we have one client insisting on using his 12 yr old MacBook for playout (CoreDuo...seriously...but NEVER argue with a CEO). Anyway I'd say computer requirement is content dependent. If you have a lot of video clips in the PPT file I'd say the bar needs to be higher, but for static text over background even the old MacBook is fine including internal PPT transitions. The new NUC is pretty stout, we played a few games on it before commissioning it into the video rack. It holds up amazing well despite its size.

The remote idea became necessary as our control room is sometimes far from where the presenter is, yet our PPT computer is usually in the rack with the ATEM. It is SOOOO much easier to remote the clicker than to try and convert all of the video and have paths for it to get back to the system. BTW, our USB over IP is made by SIIG (ID-DS0611-S1) about $50. Works great and we have a POE splitter with it so you just need a single cat5 out to wherever you want it. A stream deck mini plugs into it with buttons for next/prev/slide1. The other three buttons show a countdown timer for the speaker. Companion software is great and we love that it works even if PPT looses focus for some reason. While the presenter's SD mini only sees the one page of control buttons, we can switch any of our other stream decks over to that page and control PPT ourselves if needed.